Aston and District W.I. Report

A lovely turnout for our second meeting of 2026.

Our president, Jenny Bourne, welcomed the attendees, of whom there were many, nearly a full house and also welcomed two new members to our WI and also three visitors, who, I hope, found us to be a very friendly and sociable group of ladies!

The meeting began with our usual singing of Jerusalem and notices were read. See the end of this report for dates etc.

Our speaker this month was a lovely lady called Kath Couzens – a medical herbalist, whose practice is in Macclesfield.Her background story was far from medical, as she had spent the early part of her working in P.R. and Marketing. Travelling far and wide! Unfortunately, or fortunately, she developed a medical problem which was only alleviated when she had been treated by a herbalist.
This opened her eyes to homeopathy, and she then trained for many years to become a very well qualified medical herbalist.Her talk on herbal healing and medicines was fascinating, she talked us through many everyday herbs and, what we may think of as weeds, and how they could benefit our wellbeing if used correctly.

Many, many conditions can be treated with these herbs and tinctures, from high blood pressure, tummy problems, anxiety etc.I think all the ladies were very impressed with her enthusiasm for her work and her very wide knowledge of cures for everyday symptoms.A huge round of applause was given, and she was thanked most sincerely for her time.

Tea and delicious cakes were then served and a fun game of `Stand Up Bingo` brought the WI meeting to a close!

Notices and events
1. Our contribution to Green Dot Day will be a wild plot of flowers to encourage our endangered bee population.
2. A super number of knitted and crocheted poppies were collected and will be sent off for `Standing with Giants` – thank you to all who contributed.
3. We were informed by Jenny that Christine Bailey was sadly standing down as our W.I. Federation Advisor and her replacement will be Georgina Denney. We will be inviting Christine to our next meeting in April to thank her for all she has done for the WI.
4. An afternoon tea has kindly been arranged by heather, to be held at the Nantwich football club at 1pm on Friday 17th April. Please let Heather know if you are interested.
5. Also to be held at Nantwich Football Club on Tuesday, 21st April at 7pm, what I am sure will be a riveting talk given by Lucy Adlington – who will be telling us all about the `Dressmakers of Auschwitz` during WW2. Tickets are priced at £10 – please contact Diane Joslyn if you are interested.
6. A wicker workshop craft class is to be arranged and also dates for bowls – watch this space!

Please note that our next meeting will be on Friday, 10th April at 2pm, this will follow the Easter weekend – the title of the talk will be `A Bystander Can Save Lives` and the competition is The Colour Red – thank you!

We wish you all a happy easter!For further information on any of the above and any information you would like on our WI at Aston please log onto:https://www.facebook.com/groups/3461119860775431

Barbara McMahon – Press Secretary